Road to Hell
by donutkirby
Summary: More short stories taking place after Volume 3, this time about our dear villains. I added much more of my own interpretations this time when it comes to their backstories and characterization.
1. Chapter 1: Neo

**Intro**

The streets of Vacuo were quiet, unusual for the time of day. Normally, at this hour, there would be people crowding the streets, some minding their own business, some talking with their friends, and some sitting outside the various restaurants enjoying a meal. But not today.

After the tragedy that had struck Beacon Academy a few weeks prior, there had been an uneasy air over the heads of all the citizens. With the CCT down, no one was sure what exactly had occurred. As far as anyone could tell, after the student casualty during the Vytal Festival Tournament, the outcry in the aftermath had caused the entire city to be overrun by Grimm. The last thing anyone saw was the group of Hunters attempting to fight off the Grimm before everything suddenly went offline.

But that was impossible. Even with that much negative emotion concentrated into one place, that couldn't have been enough to attract enough Grimm capable of destroying a whole city. And that was where things got ugly.

According to one young survivor, a student from Haven who had participated in the tournament, the Atlesian army which had meant to protect the citizens in case of an attack had inexplicably turned against the people. The witness had apparently provided a recorded video proving it. It was the only evidence they had without the CCT. Many people had suggested that General Ironwood had found a way to control the Grimm and had used them, along with his synthetic army, to forcefully take over Vale. Even without global communication, the people of Mistral and Vacuo had immediately blamed everything on Atlas-in trying times, people always find someone to blame. The only people who weren't hiding in their homes, scared, were the people rioting in the streets calling for Atlas' destruction.

The situation had slightly improved in the following weeks, but not by much. There were more people outside now, going about their daily business pretending everything was alright. The tragedy had happened in Vale, they thought, so it has nothing to do with us. Many of them didn't bother wondering about the mysterious girl who had broadcast a warning all across Remnant shortly before the carnage had started. Or just who had been involved in causing the incident. Those were uncomfortable details that would disturb their fragile peace, and they ignored them.

But those people who had wrought such destruction were still out there. And one of them was among them right now.

 **Neo**

Neo watched as the people of Vacuo wandered the streets, going about with their lives. If she had been viewing this scene a week ago, there would have been far more people. The atmosphere would have been cheerful, filled with excitement and hope.

It probably would have been enough to make her vomit.

Even though she was confident no one would recognize her, she had worn a disguise just to be safe. She quietly observed the city from where she sat, on top of a building, pondering everything that had occurred.

She'd hoped that she would never come back to this god-forsaken city she hated so much, but right now all she wanted was to be as far away from everything as possible. Going to Mistral was out of the question. If she went there, she'd undoubtedly be found by THEM again. She'd either be disposed of for her failure or sent on another mission, and she'd end up just like Roman-dead.

She clenched her fists, remembering how, after the students had all evacuated, she'd run back into the hordes of Grimm, desperately trying to find some trace of him. Eventually, she was forced to give up-there were just too many of them. It didn't matter anyway. She'd known, deep down, that it was a pointless effort. So she'd run away as fast as she could, towards the first place that had come to her mind-Vacuo.

Despite the peaceful appearance of the Kingdom, Neo knew all too well that beneath lay unthinkable chaos and darkness. She'd been raised in it, after all. It was all she could remember as a child. It had been her "job". Her mother, poor as she was, had been offered a pretty price for the adorable little girl with the "different" eyes. There were people who had plenty of uses for her.

And that had been where she'd ended up. She wasn't alone. There had been other kids, around her age, who had been hired for their "special" qualities. A boy with one hand larger than the other. A young woman with an unusually large nose. A teenager who was both deaf and blind. Twins who had been born with only one leg each. And her, the girl with two eye colours.

The girl had always been a favourite among the customers. She'd had to work twice as much as the others. By all circumstances, she should have died like so many of the others. But for better or for worse, she was strong. No matter how badly she was hurt, she recovered. And the less severe wounds healed almost immediately. No one seemed to know why, but it didn't matter. It just meant that the customer could do whatever he wanted to her. It made a profit, and that was all there was to it.

Then one day, the girl had woken to the sound of screams and gunshots. At first, she didn't really care, and tried to go back to sleep. But after a while, the noises didn't stop, so she got up and went outside to check.

The bodies of her employers were strewn across the floor, along with several others. She vaguely recognized some of them as her regular customers. About five men stood in the middle of the room holding guns. The man in the middle, an orange-haired man holding a cane, spotted her.

"Well, well." He said. "Looks like one of them's still kicking." He walked over to her. "Well miss, who are you?"

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Strange. From what little memory of her earliest years she had, she'd always loved to talk-and had a talent for singing. It was as if, in the years she'd spent in that hellhole, where she had no right to talk-only to obey orders-she'd forgotten how to even speak.

"…."

"Hmph. Guess you don't like talking, huh?" The man inquired after a long silence. "Well, hurting you would be pretty unnecessary-and uh, from what I can see of you it probably wouldn't matter anymore-and leaving you here would just be a dick move, even for me. Anyway, my job here's done, so why don't you come along?" Timidly, the girl nodded.

The man-Roman Torchwick-had taken her back to his hideout. It was a small, dirty place, crowded with unsavoury people, but compared with what she was accustomed to it was heaven. Roman, seeing she was starving, took her to his food stash and offered her the first thing he laid his hands on-a vat of half-melted vanilla ice cream. Unfortunately, the mere sight of the creamy, white substance had made her nauseous, and she wouldn't touch it. After several seconds' thought, Roman added some strawberry and chocolate flavoured scoops to the mix. She felt better after that, and dug in.

It was the best thing she'd ever tasted-eons above the nigh-inedible (and sometimes just plain inedible) garbage she was used to. She'd loved it so much that for the longest time it was the only thing she wanted to eat. It was around that time that Roman had named her Neo-after the ice cream. It had started off as a joke, but at some point it had just stuck. She really liked the name anyway-and it fit with the colours of her eyes.

She later discovered the truth behind Roman's actions that day. Her old workplace had struck a deal with him, but had refused to pay up. Roman and his men had confronted them over the issue, but the owners decided that a peaceful resolution was out of the question and had resorted to blows-and thus, everything had turned out the way it had.

She didn't really care though. It didn't matter that he had just happened to come across her while carrying out business. As far as she cared, he had rescued her. And he'd taken care of her. No matter how horrible of a person he may have been from another's perspective, he was her saviour. And she could be useful to him.

Once she recovered, she got straight to work, helping out Roman with his misadventures across the Kingdom. Deception, theft, blackmail, it didn't matter. She was really good at it too-before long they had risen to the top of the criminal underground of Vacuo. Unfortunately, that wasn't as desirable as it sounded. Once every bad guy in the city knew who you were, it was hard to operate on stealth. And it wasn't like they had any intention of being some diabolical criminal empire-they were just making a living. So, the two of them had packed up and moved to Vale, where they were relatively unknown.

That was where they'd met HER.

Somehow, she knew exactly who they were. And she'd given them an offer. The offer of a lifetime-the opportunity to change the world. That was what Cinder Fall had said. The concept sounded ludicrous-but Cinder definitely wasn't. Roman and Neo could tell that she was serious, and seriously strong-it was better to have her as an ally than an enemy. And whatever it was she was planning, it sounded like a fun change of pace. So they'd signed up.

And this was how it had all ended.

By all accounts, the plan had succeeded. Beacon had fallen. The Four Kingdoms were in chaos. Humanity was turning on each other. But none of it mattered.

Roman was dead-eaten by Grimm, maybe, or he'd been killed by-

The girl.

Neo felt a rush of pure emotion flow through her body. The only other time she could remember feeling so strongly about something was when that masked lady had shown up right before she could kill that stupid blonde girl. But that time, it had been a rush of fear-unconscious knowledge that this was a force she couldn't beat. This time was different.

This time it was anger-hatred.

For the girl who acted so strong, so righteous, thinking there were such thing as heroes in the world.

The girl who naively believed in justice without ever knowing just how cruel the world was.

The girl who had taken away the only father she had.

Neo had made her decision. She would never go back to Cinder or follow her orders again.

But the girl…"Red"…she would make her suffer.


	2. Chapter 2: Emerald

**Intro**

It was midnight at Haven Academy. All was quiet, as it normally was at that time of night. But within the student dorm rooms, there was seemingly endless noise and chatter. And it wasn't exactly the cheerful, often nonsensical trite that high school students were always so fond of. Tonight, all anyone seemed to care about was the incident that had occurred at Beacon.

The Vytal Festival at Beacon had been going along fine, with thrilling matches between hundreds of talented Hunters, wielding weapons and Semblances each more ridiculous than the last. But all of a sudden, a student from Beacon had attacked and crippled a downed opponent-Mercury Black, one of their own students. The unruly girl had been disqualified, Mr. Black had been brought safely home, and that had been the end of it. And yet the very next match, an even worse tragedy had occurred. A student from Atlas had been torn to pieces- _killed_ -on national television. Shortly afterward, a swarm of Grimm had attacked the stadium and the school, and eventually the CCT itself had been downed, shutting down all communication between the Kingdoms.

The students of Haven had spent the next few days endlessly speculating, wondering what had actually transpired that fateful night. One of their students had captured Atlesian soldiers attacking civilians on video. And there had been two dismemberment incidents involving Beacon students shortly before the chaos. Who was really to blame? Atlas? Beacon? How had so many Grimm been able to break into the city? And what had happened to it after the CCT fell? Team SSSN, who were good friends with some of the Beacon students, had insisted that none of the schools were to blame, and that a third party had been responsible for the entire thing, with help from the White Fang.

Of course, that hadn't satisfied the students' craving for answers. If there had really been someone else behind the attacks, who were they? How many of them were they? Why would the White Fang want to work with humans? What purpose could they have for attacking Beacon? And where were they right now? The questions never ended.

However, one student hadn't really participated in any of the discussions. Maybe because she knew more than she was letting on.

 **Emerald**

Emerald sat in her room, alone. She was used to being all by herself, but it had been a while since she'd had to experience it. Well, that wasn't really true-it had actually only been a year or two. But to her, it had felt like forever since she'd had to run from place to place, struggling to survive.

As a child, her family had lost all their money to a swindler. With no way to support themselves, their parents had decided to kick her out of the house. She was just another mouth to feed, and was thus useless to them. They didn't need her anymore. She never saw or heard of them again-and she couldn't care less.

After that, she'd been living on the streets for years. There had been others in her situation, kids who had been left behind by their families, or simply had nowhere to go in life. Many of them were battle-hardened and ruthless from all their years fighting on the streets for food and shelter. The weak ones died quickly. The ones who lived through their first month out in the streets often formed groups, working together as a team to survive.

Not Emerald, though. She was afraid to walk up to those big, scary people and ask to join them. There was no way they'd let her in, after all-she was just a scrawny little girl who couldn't fight to save her life. More than likely, they'd just kill her on the spot. So, she'd done whatever she could do on her own. She wasn't particularly strong. Despite her slim appearance, she wasn't vey agile, either. What she did have was a very peculiar skill.

For some reason, she'd had the ability to make people "see" things. Things that weren't really there. The ability to create hallucinations. She'd first used it when she was about 13. She'd been chased throughout by some brute from a gang of street thugs. Having gone several days without food, Emerald had only made it as far as the docks before her knees gave out. She'd lain there, helplessly, as the man shambled like an inhuman monster towards her. He had the look of a madman in his eyes, and from his appearance he was probably drunk or high. There was no telling what he was going to do to her-hit her? Violate her? Torture her? Kill her? Weak and too exhausted to even move, young Emerald had stared, frozen with terror, at her assailant, hoping that someone-anyone, even if it was a cop-would come to her rescue. A chilling noise she'd assumed was fear had rung through her head.

Suddenly, the man had stopped advancing towards her. His head had turned backwards, and his drunken eyes had become clear with horror. "N-no!" He had screamed. "Ge-get away! I'm not-"

As he'd tried to flee from a non-existent danger, he'd slipped and, rather ungracefully, had fallen off the docks into the ocean. The danger having passed, Emerald had summoned the last of her strength to get up and find shelter.

After some time, she'd discovered what exactly she'd done, and how this strange power worked. By staring intently at her target, and visualizing what she _wanted_ them to see (or with some extra effort, hear), and they would actually experience it. A strange and rather uncomfortable sensation running through her head was typically the sign of success. The main limitation to her power was that, normally, it could only work on one person at a time. If she _really_ tried, she could toy with up to three minds, but doing so would take such a toll on her that she'd have to rest for several hours before she could do it again. That and the headaches were extremely painful.

Once she'd gotten a grip on what she was capable of, her life had suddenly become much easier. She could make a police officer see a fleeing robber to make him leave his post. She could walk up to a well-to-do man and pickpocket his wallet in plain sight while making him think she was just passing by. She could pawn off what appeared to be a valuable crystal of Dust, but was really just a worthless rock, to a shopkeeper for a large sum of money. And escaping from enemy street-thugs was now a piece of cake. She'd had plenty of close calls-especially on days where the city was crowded and she actually had to be careful no one could see her, and her actual profits still weren't enough to let her buy out of the street life, but overall, her days of constantly struggling for survival had ended.

Then one day, her luck had run out. One jewelry shop owner had been shrewder than her usual prey. As she'd walked away, with the ring tucked safely in her pocket, she'd gotten a bit careless and dropped the hallucination a bit too early. As soon as the beautiful young woman she'd conjured up disappeared, the owner had realized he'd been tricked and called for help. Panicked, Emerald had run as fast as she could, but had been cornered in an alleyway. However, the woman who had confronted her had had a different motive than tossing her in jail.

"If you follow me, you will question everything you know." Cinder Fall had said. "If you do not prove to me you can survive the trials ahead, you will die. But show your worth…and I promise, that as long as you follow me, you'll never be hungry again."

It had sounded too good to be true. Was this woman bluffing? Who the hell was she, anyway? But who cared? This woman was everything she'd ever wanted to be. Strong, confident, and feared. And she had shown an interest in Emerald Sustrai. She had appreciated her abilities, and had offered her a chance to have a better life. In that moment, Emerald had forgotten to care about anything else. She'd accepted Cinder's offer.

Soon afterward, the two of them had recruited a young man named Mercury into their group. The son of a world-class assassin. His skills would benefit their cause greatly. What the cause actually was, Emerald did not yet know. But what did it matter? She'd found the one thing she really cared about. Someone to live for. Someone she looked up to. Someone who she would serve with the utmost loyalty, for the rest of her life. And this man-Mercury-could ruin it for her.

"We don't _need_ him!" Emerald had yelled. "Everything was going fine! I could have helped you, all by mys-"

Cinder had slapped her. "Do _not_ mistake your place. Both of you will have your own role in this game of ours. If you wish to be useful, then stay quiet and let things happen…and I assure you, your time _will_ come." And she'd obeyed.

That had been about two years ago. After being recruited by Cinder, she'd gone through intense training to improve herself. She could no longer just rely on her ability-a Semblance, it was apparently called. Many people had one, though hers was quite unique. Under Cinder's training, she'd become faster, and much better at actual stealth. She'd been given a weapon-a dual set of green pistols, which doubled as combat knives. Though her fighting skills could never match up to Mercury's natural talent for close-range combat, she did considerably improve, enough-or so she hoped-to impress Cinder. And, albeit begrudgingly, she'd learned to put up with Mercury's snark and attitude and they'd learned to fight efficiently as a team.

On her first real mission, she and Mercury had aided Cinder in ambushing a mysterious woman with incredible powers-an extremely high-profile target, according to Cinder. Though they'd succeeded in subduing her, allowing Cinder to absorb her power, the famous Huntsman Qrow Branwen had shown up out of nowhere to thwart their plan. As a result, they'd only been able to steal half of the woman's power before Qrow ran off with her body. Thankfully for them, Emerald had used her Semblance to hide them from the Hunter's sight, allowing them to escape. She hadn't really comprehended who that woman really was or why Cinder was so dead-set on killing her-but she didn't need to. After the mission, Cinder had _praised_ her. She'd acknowledged her use, that she was valuable and important to her! That, and nothing else, was what she had wanted.

Then, they'd brought in a few more allies-the unbelievably annoying Roman Torchwick, with his charismatic leadership skills, his eerily quiet and surprisingly competent sidekick Neo, who always followed Torchwick around like he was her father, and with Cinder's new powers, they'd even threatened the notorious terrorist organization White Fang into subjugation.

One day, Cinder had announced that their "true objective" was finally coming to light. She, Mercury, Emerald and Neo had entered Haven Academy as students in preparation for the Vytal Festival. Roman and the White Fang were in charge of sowing chaos all across the Kingdoms, through robberies and terror attacks. And Emerald was going to be the key player in this entire plot.

This was it. Her chance to prove herself once and for all to her master. Emerald had resolved to do everything she could to ensure Cinder's goal, whatever it may be, came to fruition.

And she did. Everything had gone exactly as planned. With her Semblance, Emerald manipulated the minds of the contestants at the Vytal Festival Tournament, ultimately resulting in one student accidentally killing her opponent. The rest had proceeded by itself-the Grimm invasion, the destruction of the CCT, and the fall of Beacon Academy. And here she was, safely back home, with no one in the Academy the wiser about her involvement.

Sitting in her bedroom now, Emerald thought back to those girls who had befriended her back at Beacon. How obnoxiously happy they'd been, without a care in the world. Well, they probably weren't so happy now, and most likely some of them were dead.

That thought wasn't as satisfying as she thought it'd be. It almost made her sad for some reason.

Back in Beacon, she'd watched from above as the Grimm had run through the streets, destroying everything and everyone in their path, and she'd felt…sorrow? Regret? Shame?

No, impossible. There was no use in grieving over what she'd done. She'd done it all for Cinder's sake, and that was all that mattered, wasn't it?

But she hadn't heard from Cinder since they'd evacuated. She'd stayed behind to take care of one last piece of business, and hadn't returned since.

She wasn't dead, obviously. Cinder Fall was one of those people who simply couldn't die, no matter what. She was absolutely, utterly invincible. But then where was she?

 _Has she abandoned me?_ The horrifying thought ran, unconsciously, through Emerald's mind.

 _No. No, no, she wouldn't._

But the fact was, the one person she'd ever trusted had disappeared without a trace. Mercury was in the hospital, faking a leg injury as per the plan. Their other allies had also vanished to parts unknown. She was all alone again. And what's more, it had become clear over the course of their endeavor that while the others were strong, charismatic, or cunning, Emerald's hallucinations were her only real use, however great an impact they'd had on the plan. And now that the plan was completed…

And another, even more terrifying, thought ran through her head.

 _What if they don't need me anymore?_


	3. Chapter 3: Mercury

**Intro**

"Ummm….." The girl stuttered, trying to think of something to say.

"Huh? Something wrong? Didn't you have something to say to me?"

"O-oh! Uh…w-well, I just wanted to say, umm…" she stammered nervously, her face beet red. She glanced at the young man lying in the hospital bed.

"Take your time," he encouraged her. "I'm not exactly going anywhere, y'know? I can wait for whatever you want to say."

"Well…I-I just wanted to say that…you did great out there at the tournament!" the girl said with an effort. "A-and I think that…you should definitely have won! And you would have, if it weren't for that awful Beacon girl breaking your leg!"

"Oh her? Nah, it's cool." The boy grinned. "I know her type. Hot n' reckless, always doing the craziest crap. It was a pretty shitty thing to do, but really I can't blame her."

"No! It was horrible, what she did to you!" she insisted. "I…I hope that those Grimm hurt her! She deserved it!"

"Whoa, whoa!" the boy's eyes widened. "You don't actually mean that, right?"

"I…I don't know…"she sighed, her anger fading. I just…I think it was terrible what happened at Beacon. The Vytal Festival was supposed to be a celebration of peace, right? How could someone just…how could anyone let something so awful happen? Why…?"

"Ahaha, don't worry. You know how good the military in the Kingdoms is. Trust me, in no time, whoever was responsible for what happened at Beacon...they'll be brought to justice soon. Promise."

The girl smiled. The boy's words had reassured her. Of course it would be all right. The good guys always won in the end. No matter what happened, the heroes would protect the innocent and punish the evil. That was an indisputable fact.

"Yeah…yeah, you're right. Thanks…I think I feel better now. Ah-so what I really wanted was to give you this." She took her hands out from behind her back and handed him a small box of chocolates. Attached was a card saying "Get Well Soon."

"Awww, gee, thanks." The boy accepted the gift, grinning from ear to ear. "Well kid, it's getting late, so if I were you I'd be going home right about now."

"Ah!-ah, you're right." She started. She walked over to the door and opened it. Before leaving the room, she turned around and smiled. "See you, Mercury."

 **Mercury**

The moment the girl left the room, Mercury leaned back on his bed with an exasperated sigh.

What was with the girls in this godforsaken kingdom? They were just too easy, too simple to be any fun to mess with. All it took was some sweet words, say the things they wanted to hear, and suddenly they believed every single thing you said. Talk about boring.

Still, he had to give her some credit, he supposed. Getting into his hospital room by pretending to be a family member? Not bad for an otherwise unremarkable and forgettable girl. Then again, it wasn't like it was a particularly hard thing to do. Faking his leg injury was equally easy. A bit of bribery, a bit of blackmail, and the lovely folks at the hospital had been convinced to keep mum about his actual condition. Now here he was, safe in bed, and the whole world was convinced he was a poor, innocent victim of an unruly Beacon student's rampage.

Mercury grinned to himself, remembering the priceless look of horror and confusion on Yang Xiao Long's face as she'd realized, if only partially, what was going on. Not that it had mattered-she'd fallen hopelessly into their trap. The world had seen her attack a student unprovoked-and manipulations and mind games aside, that really _was_ what she'd done. From there on, the rest of the plan had fallen into place so easily it was laughable. General Ironwood, Ozpin, the Atlesian army…they really _were_ as incompetent as Cinder had said.

Still, it was a little bit upsetting just how little he'd actually had to do during the final stage of the plan. As much fun as he'd had recording the video of the Grimm and the hijacked Atlesian soldiers attacking Beacon and the civilians, it just didn't feel as satisfying as participating in the fun himself. Other than that, the only thing he'd really done was the incident with Yang. Emerald's Semblance had tricked her into "breaking" his leg, and he'd reacted accordingly. Though, if he did say so himself, he'd put up quite the impressive act. The way he'd faked those screams of pain….and how he'd played the part of the poor, helpless victim with just enough dramatic flair to win the whole world's heart.

 _And Dad said that I couldn't act._ Mercury thought to himself. The old man had always looked down on his son, telling him how he'd never amount to anything. Well, if he was watching from whatever pit of hell he'd been sent to, he'd know exactly how wrong he'd been.

Marcus Black. One of the most talented assassins in all of Remnant, his name was feared far and wide as a deadly and ruthless fighter. Whenever he was hired, his target was all but guaranteed to be dead within a day. His ability to wield virtually any weapon to mastery allowed him to overpower even the most dangerous opponents. He was also cunning enough to ensure that his clients' identities remained hidden forever.

Young Mercury had looked up to his father's skill. He'd wanted to grow up to be just as skilled an assassin as him. He'd trained with his father's old gun greaves, and had soon become extremely adept at using them. But the old man hadn't been so enthusiastic about the idea.

"Son, what I do, I do strictly for business." Marcus had said. "It's the only way to make do in this dark, cruel world of ours. That is what people like me do-he embraces that darkness, and with it, he fights for his own survival. That involves completing any task presented to you, without any feeling or petty emotion swaying you. That's the only way to be an assassin, Mercury. Do you understand?"

Mercury had not understood. What his father had said just didn't make sense. He had claimed that emotions had nothing to do with his work, but what was the point of doing something you didn't enjoy? Was his father really saying he didn't enjoy his job? That he didn't enjoy the killing?

One time, he'd snuck out of the house to follow his father on a mission. The assassination of a local tailor accused of murdering the client's two young children. He'd watched from behind a bush as Marcus snuck up on his target, walking alone down the path unaware of the danger. Watched as his father had forcefully grabbed the man's head, forcing him headfirst down a nearby pond, drowning him. To anyone who found him later, there would be no evidence suggesting anything other than a perfectly ordinary suicide.

Mercury had been filled with a wondrous, indescribable feeling, watching the man's futile struggling as his life was brutally ended, as his muffled screams barely made it past the water's surface. He'd never felt anything like it before, and he knew without a doubt that nothing in the world could ever come close to being as wonderful as what he felt that moment. That had been his inspiration to follow in his father's path and become an assassin, yet his father didn't feel the same way he did?

It hadn't really mattered. Mercury had continued to train himself, long after his father had given up on him. He'd stay up entire nights, working on his ability, his strength, teaching himself the best places to strike a target to induce pain. Sometimes, though, that hadn't been enough to satisfy his cravings. So, when his father was out or asleep, he'd sneak out into the city and kill a couple of poor scrubs who were wandering out alone. He'd then steal their wallets for good measure-it wouldn't do to not have some physical reward for his efforts, now would it?

As he'd gotten older, his skills had drastically improved from when he'd first started, mastering both the close range and projectile aspects of his combat greaves. He was confident that soon, he'd be a reputable assassin just like his father. Unfortunately, while Mercury was getting better, Marcus had definitely deteriorated. Not only was he getting older, but every day he'd drink heavily, leaving himself in a heavy, rambling stupor. Sometimes, he even got violent with his son.

"I can…hear them…" he'd moaned, slobbering as he throttled his son by the neck. The disgusting smell of alcohol radiating from his mouth had made Mercury want to puke. "They're…they're BEHIND ME….OH GOD NO they're CRAWLING all OVER MY SKIN….Agggggghhhhh….no, no, no please don't hurt me I was just doing what I had to-GET AWAY FROM ME!" With impossibly fast reflexes, he'd thrown a swift punch at Mercury's face, breaking several of the young man's teeth and giving him an agonizing headache for about a week.

Mercury had not enjoyed that. Nor had he enjoyed the undeniable fact that his father's worsening condition was affecting his business. He was getting less jobs, and while he was still well-known throughout the city, there were rumours spreading that his skills weren't quite what they used to be. That would not do. They still had to make a living after all. Mercury had suggested his father retire and let him take over the killing business-after all, at this point he was just as good as Marcus had been in his prime.

But his father would have none of it. "No!" he yelled, viciously slapping his son across the cheek. He was still a bit drunk. "I will not permit you to go down the same path as I have! I…I think I'm done with the whole "assassin" business. I can't take it anymore…I keep hearing them at night…the people I…they're screaming for revenge, for my blood…I can't sleep at all. I won't let you experience this hell. I think it's time we moved and found some other profession."

Mercury' entire body had been filled with horror. Quit being an assassin? After all the training he'd done? Was it possible his father still didn't realize? That this was his calling in life, the one thing that made him feel completely alive? It was all too clear now. As long as Marcus Black was around…Mercury Black would never be truly happy.

He'd made a decision.

One night, his father was in a worse state than usual. He'd consumed three entire bottles of wine and was staggering around the house like a madman. Mercury, in his bedroom, had checked his greaves to ensure they were working properly. He'd winced a little, still feeling the drunken beatings the old bastard had given him the day before. But tonight he'd put an end to all that. This was the beginning of his new life.

When he got downstairs, his father was slumped over in chair, fumbling over their house bills. He didn't seem to notice as Mercury snuck behind him. Marcus was just tall enough that his neck rose above the chair, fully exposed. Mercury took a deep breath, then swung a swift kick at his target…

….and hit nothing. Before he realized what had happened, and realized that his father was still sharp enough to realize when an enemy with an intent to kill was nearby, the old man had landed several powerful blows on Mercury's body, sending him flying to the wall. "Grah-!" he gasped, spewing blood from his mouth.

This was bad. Turns out, the rumours had all been false. For all his drinking habits, Marcus was every bit as deadly as he'd always been. Each attack hit like a tank. His speed was unmatched. And his battle senses were so sharp it was like he could predict his assailant's every move. In hindsight, it probably would have been better to make his assassination attempt while the old fart was sober. Then, at least, he'd show some hesitation in fighting his own son.

Desperately, Mercury had tried to strike back with his greaves, but his father had dodged every single hit. Cursing, he lunged forward at him, firing as many close-range projectiles as he could, destroying the room in the process. He felt a rush of satisfaction as his attacks connected…and then a rush of horror as his father emerged from the rubble, completely unharmed.

"Crap." He muttered. It seemed he'd have to settle for Plan B, then. He ran towards the back door as fast as he could, but not before igniting several matches he'd pulled out of his pocket, and throwing them behind his back. Before his attempt on his father's life, he'd taken some canisters of flammable Dust from his father's stash and spread them all over the house. Sure enough, Marcus hadn't noticed in his drunken stupor, and now he'd pay the price. Mercury leaped out of the house as it instantly became a raging inferno, consuming everything inside. Once he was a safe distance away, he turned around, marveling at what he'd done. The way the flames burned and destroyed all in their path….it was beautiful.

His ecstasy was short-lived. Marcus had survived the blaze, albeit just barely, and soon he came barreling out of the wreckage, screaming in pain. There were no burn marks on his skin, but it was clear from his movements that his Aura was almost completely depleted.

"RARRRRRRGH!" he howled, swinging wildly at his son. There was no more tact to any of his moves-it was entirely sporadic attacks, with no strategy of any sort. Not one to squander this advantage, Mercury struck back, using every move he'd learned to take him down once and for all. He'd managed to land several good kicks before his father grabbed him by the leg and twisted it with all his might.

"AHHHHHHH!" Mercury screamed in agony, collapsing on the ground.

 _Stupid. Stupid._ Relying solely on leg combat had made him predictable. Even while hopelessly drunk a specialist like Marcus could easily see through him. While he lay there, still in shock, his father brought his fist down on Mercury's other leg. There was a sickening crunch as his bones were shattered under the impact.

His only method of attack gone, Mercury could only lie there as his father grabbed him by the neck. He brought his face right up to his. His eyes were filled with madness and bloodlust.

Mercury had lost. It was all over. Unless…

He used his last resort.

"D-Dad…" he sobbed, tears running down his cheeks. "I-I'm sorry. I was just…I didn't want you to keep hurting me. Please Dad, we'll leave, OK? Just…don't kill me, please…"

Making sure he had his father's full attention, he slowly reached into his back pocket. His fingers gently caressed the cold, hard steel of the small knife he'd put in there.

Marcus' eyes softened, the madness leaving them. His son's heartfelt words had reached him. He loosened his grip-and his guard. "It's alright son. I-"

Without hesitation, Mercury pulled out the knife and plunged it into his father's throat.

He didn't make a sound, but his eyes widened in horror and betrayal, before going empty. Marcus Black slumped over, dead.

It was over. Satisfied but utterly exhausted, Mercury tore off his father's coat from his corpse and bandaged his mangled legs in a sturdy cast. He was then able to stand, albeit painfully. It was only then that he'd noticed the two figures standing before him, who'd probably been watching the whole time. "What are you looking at?" he spat at them.

One of them was a dark-skinned, green-haired girl, probably the same age as him, staring at him with a mixture of fear and wonder. The other, an elegant young woman with short dark hair and a red dress, simply took in the whole scene, smiling eerily. Then she spoke.

"I'm looking for Marcus Black," She said calmly, as if she didn't already know what had just happened.

Mercury spat at his father's lifeless body. "There you go." He sneered, gesturing to it.

"Is that…the assassin?" the girl muttered in shock.

"And you're…his son." The woman mused. She smiled again. "We saw your fight from the treeline. He's taught you well."

"…I guess so." Who were these two? Why were they here? What did they want from him?

"…What's your name?"

"Mercury."

"Mercury…" the woman seemed lost in thought for a second. "Tell me, are you anything like your father?"

Mercury laughed. A long time ago, he would've given anything to be compared to his father. He'd been an idol to him back then. But now, things were different.

"Nope. Don't even think about comparing us two. I've long surpassed him…both physically and mentally. The old bastard wanted to leave the whole business behind. I-"he made a slitting motion across his throat. "-disagreed."

"I see." The woman replied, as calm as ever. "Then I assume you know why we are here."

"…Yeah. You wanted to hire him, right? You had some kind of job for him."

"Mm, I suppose you could put it like that. Well now that I know he's, ah… _retired_ …I suppose you'll have to do."

"Really? So what's in it for me, huh? Don't just think I'll do whatever you say." That was a bluff. In the condition he was in, it didn't matter what these two women did to him; there was nothing he could've done to fight back.

"For you? Good question. I suppose it really depends on your… _perspective._ " She smiled a third time, and chills of pure fear went down Mercury's spine. "Tell me, Mercury Black, how would you like to change the world?"

And everything had just fit in from there. It had been quite a lot of fun. Cinder Fall was just as fascinating of a person as she'd looked. Emerald was fun to hang around with too; she was the type who was so easy to tease without being boring at the same time. He'd even gotten a pair of shiny new metal legs to replace the ones his father had broken. He'd met, befriended, and murdered some interesting people. But now, the plan was over, and he was lying in a hospital bed, bored out of his mind.

 _Oh, well._ He supposed it was necessary. After all, it meant he got to be showered in love and appreciation from his fans. Smiling, he took out one of the chocolates the girl had given him and popped it into his mouth. It was quite good.

Mercury yawned. All that reminiscing had really taken a toll on him. He supposed it was right past his bedtime too, anyway.

 _Well, who knows? Maybe tomorrow will be a little more entertaining._ With that thought, he pressed his head against his pillow, and was soon fast asleep.


End file.
